You've used Twitter and Dodgeball, but have you tried Brightkite? It's the latest and greatest location-centric web app to come to our attention. What does it do that the others don't you ask? Good question. Right at login, you're prompted with the question "What's Happening?" Sound familiar?
All kidding aside though, they are geographic centric and allow you to check in from wherever you are in the world. By simply typing in an address or searching for a business, you can immediately let all of your friends (and the world if you choose) know exactly where you are. On the flip side, you can see where your friends are and with an SMS shortcode, "join them" automagically.
Brightkite is attempting to do what others have failed at. That being the ability to get people to use their site consistently, update their location, and be absolutely fine with the world knowing where they are and not just what they're doing.
Here are some of Brightkite's features:
- "Brightkite Universe" which is basically Twitter, except you can post photos.
- "Visited Places" which archives all of the places you've actually remembered to update from
- "Placemarks" which is actually a pretty nice feature that lets you bookmark places you may visit often or would like to visit
- Mobile features that let you get pinged whenever your buddy goes to the Wal-mart.
Would you share your geographical location with the world on a consistent basis? Tell us some cool places you'd update from in the comments and we'll give away 5 Brightkite invites to the most interesting places!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-21-2008 @ 11:26AM
haveboard said...
I wish brightkite would work directly with googlemaps on my BB (or anyone's iPhone), to make it easier to hit a few buttons to update, vs typing in a complete address.
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 11:29AM
Drew Olanoff said...
That's the tough thing with mobile technology, is that even though the iPhone is the current hot, a lot of people use BB's and other not so "smart" phones. It's a niche crowd right now, and you run the risk of turning some folks off.
5-21-2008 @ 11:29AM
Todd said...
I have been using for a couple weeks.
Good: They use Oauth to connect to my Fire Eagle account.
Bad: Default settings cause way to many SMS text messages to your phone, strongly recommend turning all those off.
Obsolescence watch: Android does everything Bright Kite does and then some, so yeah, it's pretty cool but I cannot see it surviving past first week of Android handset availability.
http://fireeagle.yahoo.net/
http://oauth.net/
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5-21-2008 @ 11:32AM
Drew Olanoff said...
OAUTH FTW!
Great great point about turning off alerts straight away. With "social" sites like this, the first thing you naturally do is add all of your friends. But man oh man, do you get hit immediately with Brightkite.
I will be keeping an eye out for Android stuff, I'm still on the fence until I see it in action.
5-21-2008 @ 11:48AM
Martin May said...
Todd,
Concerning the notifications, we've introduced some more conservative default settings (e.g. no more friend requests via SMS).
With regards to Android, we already have an app in the works that will run on the Android platform, as well as a native iPhone app. "Checking in" will be as easy as pushing a button.
Regards,
Martin
Founder, brightkite.com
5-21-2008 @ 11:51AM
Drew Olanoff said...
Martin, please keep me in the loop on the things you're cranking away at. I'd love to get hands on and we'll keep our readers updated.
Thanks for jumping in!
5-21-2008 @ 4:15PM
Tom said...
I thought brightkite and fire eagle offered the same service and were basically in competition? I've so far gotten invites to neither, even though I've been in the waiting list for both for a while. Very annoying.
They tell you who to properly beg for an invite, and then those people don't respond :-/
5-21-2008 @ 12:08PM
Todd said...
Hmmm...In order to have BriteKite function as an Android app it needs to do much more than "one click update my location" ( Android does that by default ). BriteKite must play nice with Android's heavy integration with maps at the minimum. If I get a SMS from BriteKite to my Android phone, I would want just Google map to appear and show push pins for the location of the BriteKite friend and myself then a "one click" directions to get to them. Please don't make me open the browser, go to BriteKite, sign in, pour through activities, etc. KTHXBAI
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5-21-2008 @ 12:27PM
giggity said...
Places I'd update from?
- Restaurants
- Hiking
- LOLCAT moments
- NYC
- Beach
- Bathroom
- Car
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 1:26PM
James said...
places i'd update from,
different stations when i'm on the train
my bed
the beach
up a mountain (if i get a signal that is!)
when i run events for scouts
going out of a night
when i go on holiday
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 2:18PM
ha3rvey said...
I would probably post constantly to a service like this. I'm interviewing for a new job with about 50% travel, and it'll be a great way to let my family and friends know where I am. (within reason :)
I have monstrous list of places I'd like to visit, but I'll narrow it down to: a return trip to NYC with a decent camera, Red Rocks/Garden of the Gods, San Francisco, Chicago, a return trip to Boston, and any place warm and tropical.
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 2:43PM
earthpilot said...
I could let my family and friends know where I am.
Or let them discover new places I visit.
Thanks
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 2:44PM
Drew Olanoff said...
you folks rule, those are some great uses for a service like this. we're sending out invites and if you don't get one this time around, no worries we'll get more!
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 4:17PM
Tom said...
I'd work on a brightkite app for the iPhone.
And I'd update from Busch Gardens, perhaps posting info on line length. Maybe other places with lines too, but I don't think BrightKite really has a "delay alert" functionality.
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 9:23PM
Tom said...
Wow, it doesn't tell you who sent the invite. But since it went to the e-mail I use mainly for comments on Weblogs, Inc. blogs, I'm guessing it was Drew. Thanks, Drew!
5-21-2008 @ 9:25PM
Drew Olanoff said...
Darn, it's like secret santa, but you caught us!
Can't wait to see your updates from Busch Gardens.
5-21-2008 @ 10:06PM
Tom said...
Really? That's not too exciting, AND I don't have you on my friends list. But I do have a Busch Gardens season pass, and I use uPoze to upload pics to flickr automatically from my iPhone as it is.
5-21-2008 @ 5:34PM
Insomnic said...
Yeah... mobile web support would be nice. I don't bother with SMS (use twitterberry for twitter updates) and when I try to check in via the web site on my Blackberry it crashes my browser hard. After to clear cache and pull battery to get it back (some sites do this to the BB browser). I've stopped using it because of this.
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 6:01PM
Liana Lehua said...
I've been using Brightkite for two weeks, and I love the location-based features. However, I am really diggin' the "trusted" friends feature. I travel a lot, I'm a petite woman, and so my family worries about me being safe. I have made my family members "trusted" friends so they can see my exact whereabouts while everyone else just sees a locale.
If I could get a signal, I would post from: Playa Negra (Costa Rica), Sunset Beach (Oahu), 22nd Street (Newport Beach), Mavericks (Half Moon Bay), Bondi (Australia). :)
Reply
5-21-2008 @ 6:56PM
Drew Olanoff said...
Trusted friend, nice point. That is sweet, but not definable unfortunately. I'd like some Facebook level security on that kinda stuff.